Howdy
The first 22 Rimfire pump action rifle, the Browning designed Winchester Model 1890, could only feed 22 Long Rife, 22 Long, OR 22 Shorts. Each rifle could only feed the cartridge marked on the barrel, not any of the other length cartridges.This model could not feed any other size cartridges than what was marked on the barrel.
This Model 1890 is chambered for 22 Long Rifle.
This was because the cartridge elevator was very simple. The action at the top of this photo is a Model 1890 chambered for 22 Long Rifle, the one at the bottom is chambered for 22 Short. The slot in elevator that received the cartridge from the magazine was only long enough to accommodate the cartridge the rifle was marked for. Notice how much longer the slot is on the 22 Long Rifle elevator than the 22 Short Elevator. This allowed the appropriate cartridge to fully enter the elevator, and the nose of the bullet stopped another round from feeding into the slot.
Interestingly enough, the most popular chambering was 22 Short, since it was considered a 'boy's' rifle, and because a great many of them were used in shooting galleries, that may not have been set up to stop a more powerful round than 22 Short.
In 1906 WInchester introduced the Model 1906.The '06 had a shorter round barrel, and a less expensive stock made of something other than walnut.
For the first year of production the Model 1906 was only offered chambered for 22 Short. Later, because of a slight redesign of the cartridge elevator, the Model 1906 could chamber 22 Shorts, 22 Longs, or 22 Long Rifles interchangeably.
This was because a small toggle had been incorporated in the cartridge elevator. When a round was fed into the slot, it pushed one end of the toggle down, which raised the other end, blocking any more cartridges from feeding into the elevator, no matter what length they were.
For a while, Rossi was importing a little 22 pump rifle which was identical to the Winchester Model 1906. The 22 Pump Rossis in the videos are not the same, they have a different shape to the trigger guard. Also, the Model 1890 and 1906 were take down rifles, they were disassembled by loosening the knurled slotted screw on the right side at the rear of the frame.
Anyway, my little Model 1906, which my grandfather bought for my Dad in the 1930s, is smooth as butter because the action has been worked many times over the years, mostly by me.
